From Flowers to Ferments: Week 3 at a Glance
What a doozy this week has been! The heat has been out of this world. Hopefully, you've had some nice, fresh veggies to toss into a refreshing salad 🥗
The online store opens at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday and will remain open through the end of the day on Tuesday. You can shop here 👉 Online Store
This week’s share will include:
Salad Mix
Peas (One last hurrah! Maybe?)
Cucumbers — both pickling and slicing types
Peas: We wanted to send you peas one last time, as they’re nearing the end of their season. But don’t worry — the first round of green beans is starting to flower! And by green beans, we mean our tricolor mix: green, purple, and yellow. So it won’t be long!
Speaking of flowers, we harvested our first zinnia and cosmo bouquets Friday evening! Look for them at our Saturday markets — they’re bright, cheerful, and a great way to bring the farm indoors.
Also coming down the pike: napa cabbage and romaine lettuce.
Cucumbers: This week, we wanted to give you a cucumber you can enjoy now and preserve to enjoy a few weeks down the road.
This will be our first week offering slicing cucumbers — perfect fresh on a salad or with your favorite dip.
The pickles persist, and so do we.
We have a love/hate relationship with cucumbers. To get you the perfect pickle, we painstakingly pick them every day.
We just did our first lacto-ferment of the season with gherkins! Lacto-fermentation is the process of salting fruits and vegetables to allow lactic acid bacteria to thrive (think sauerkraut and kimchi). We follow Noma’s Guide to Fermentation, a fantastic resource if you want to learn the ins and outs of fermenting.
The process of making lacto-fermented pickles uses a basic brine method involving vegetables, water, and 2-4% salt of the water + vegetable weight. With higher sugar vegetables, it’s better to go with a higher percentage. The process creates sour, umami-rich pickles.The result? Sour, umami-rich, crunchy goodness.
Learn more about the method here:
Noma Guide to Lacto-Fermented Pickles — Ethan Chlebowski
A quick safety note: If you're trying lacto-fermentation at home, it’s very important to check your jars daily. The fermentation process releases gases, and if those gases aren’t released, pressure can build up — sometimes leading to overflowing brine or even cracked containers. Loosen lids or burp jars regularly, especially in the first few days, and make sure everything stays submerged.
A Special Visit: We had a couple of surprise visitors this week — our aunt and uncle from New Mexico stopped by during their cross-country road trip! It was so special to share the farm with them, take them on a tour, and prepare a meal using our vegetables, fruit from St. John Produce, and meat from our friends at Kinsman’s Farm in Archbold.
Share the love! Tag @thatonefarmerguy in your social media posts! We love seeing how you prepare and enjoy your produce — and we might even reshare your creations!
Matt and Allie
That One Farmer Guy